Charts analysis: Sabrina Carpenter returns to albums summit for Christmas

Sixteen weeks after it debuted at No.1, Sabrina Carpenter’s breakthrough album Short n’ Sweet returns to pole position on consumption of 15,220 units (2,564 CDs, 3,661 vinyl albums, 10 cassettes, 62 digital downloads and 8,923 sales-equivalent streams). That is its highest tally for seven weeks but the lowest on record for a No.1 artist album at Christmas, breaking the previous record of 16,460 set by The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds in 2023. In the top three throughout its chart run, Short n’ Sweet has increased consumption for the past four weeks in a row, and is the third most-consumed album of 2024, with a to-date tally of 359,258 units. It had to fight a rearguard action, however, with Michael Bublé’s appositely and concisely-titled Christmas (3-2, 13,104 sales) running it close all week. Although it came close to claiming its seventh week at No.1 in total, Bublé’s album – which previously topped the Christmas chart in 2011, the year of its release - will fail to finish in the Top 100 of the year-end artist album chart for the first time. Its cumulative consumption of 3,416,814 units includes 2,406,927 CDs (252,429 of them CD/DVD combos), 26,939 vinyl albums, 466,317 digital downloads and 516,611 sales-equivalent streams. Rotherham alt-rock band The Reytons’ triumphant sell-out gig at the South Yorkshire town’s Clifton Park in July has spawned a live album of the same name. Debuting at No.5 (7,979 sales), it is The Reytons’ fifth chart album, and third Top 10 entry, arriving just 10 months after their most recent studio set, Ballad Of A Bystander, peaked at No.2. 4,758 of Clifton Park’s sales were on vinyl, in which format it is No.1. The rest of the Top 10: The Rise And Fall Of A Midwestern Princess (6-3, 10,032 sales) by Chappell Roan, The Tortured Poets Department (1-4, 9,151 sales) by Taylor Swift, Hit Me Hard And Soft (9-6, 7,955 sales) by Billie Eilish, Brat (7-7, 7,775 sales) by Charli XCX, The Highlights (10-8, 6,823 sales) by The Weeknd, +--=÷× Tour Collection (12-9, 6,631 sales) by Ed Sheeran and Diamonds (14-10, 6,512 sales) by Elton John. Falling out of the Top 10: GNX (8-14, 6,152 sales) by Kendrick Lamar, Rosie (4-49, 3,247 sales) by Rosé and Fruitcake (5-57, 2,836 sales) by Sabrina Carpenter. More than 30 years after they first worked together, rap legends Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre’s first collaborative album, Missionary, debuts at No.24 (4,801 sales). It is 53-year-old Snoop’s 14th Top 75 album, his first since 2015, and his highest-charting since Ego Trippin’ reached No.23 in 2008. It is 59-year-old Dre’s seventh Top 75 album (including three with N.W.A.), his first and his highest-charting since Compton was No.1 in 2015. Also new to the Top 75: Rome (No.71, 2,541 sales), the ninth chart album (second live) for The National. Seventy-five weeks after it debuted at No.177 and 48 weeks after it peaked at No.21, Teddy Swims’ introductory album, I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Part 1, surges into the Top 20 for the first time, jumping 32-12 (6,342 sales). The self-styled ‘fat kid from Conyers’ doesn’t have it all his own way this week, however. He has had at least one, sometimes three, songs in the Top 40 since his first hit, Lose Control, jumped 81-14 50 weeks ago. But this week he has none, with Lose Control ebbing 55-60 (11,204 sales), while The Door (19-65, 10,233 sales) and Bad Dreams (22-74, 9,574 sales) simultaneously fall into ACR. Lose Control is certified triple platinum this week, with to-date consumption of 1,821,029 units, including 1,703,168 in 2024. It is the fourth most-consumed track of the year so far here, and fares even better in America, where it tops the Billboard Hot 100 rankings for 2024. Oddly, it is his only Top 20 hit there, with The Door peaking at No.24 and Bad Dreams at No.72. Raye’s 2023 No.2 debut album, My 21st Century Blues, jumps 60-37 (3,834 sales), returning to the Top 40 after an absence of 37 weeks, while new vinyl editions propel Daft Punk’s 2011 No.2 album Discovery to re-enter at No.72 (2,533 sales). It is its first chart appearance since 2015. ITV screenings help Dua Lipa’s Live From The Royal Albert Hall (45-40, 3,676 sales) to reach a new peak. Destined to become the first act ever to debut at No.1 on the US album chart with their first six chart entries when their new mixtape Hop is confirmed at America’s Christmas No.1 in a couple of days, South Korean boy band Stray Kids fall short of the Top 75 with the set debuting here at No.91 on sales of 2,207 copies. As is frequently the case with South Korean acts, they released a multiplicity of ineligible formats which, if included, would see the album debut at No.8 (7,055 sales). The soundtrack to the film Wicked is No.1 on the compilation chart for the fourth week in a row on consumption of 16,504 units (3,494 CDs, 4,389 vinyl albums, 286 digital downloads and 8,335 sales-equivalent streams). Its consumption is 1,284 greater than Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, marking the first time a compilation has been the combined album chart No.1 since Barbie – The Album, 71 weeks ago. Overall album sales are down 0.03% week-on-week at 2,813,696 units, 4.32% above same week 2023 sales of 2,697,286. Physical product accounts for 665,810 sales, their highest level of the year, and 23.66% of the total.

Trend zone: How superstar artists shook up the charts in 2024

This felt like one of the more momentous years on the UK charts, with some astonishing results from stars both new and more established. Week in, week out, the singles and albums No.1 contests were the ultimate test for artists. Beyond the headlines, though, there are deeper trends to explore… 1. TAYLOR SWIFT’S POETRY IN MOTION Setting her own trends in the music industry, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department (EMI) debuted at No.1 in April with staggering sales of 270,091 (Official Charts Company). As well as securing her biggest opening to date, Swift’s 11th studio album outsold the rest of the Top 75 LPs in its first week. Swift’s album beat the opening for Adele’s 30 (261,856) in November 2021. In fact, you have to go back to March 2017 and the second week at the summit for Ed Sheeran’s Divide to find a bigger weekly total (303,520). As her Eras Tour visited the UK, including eight nights at Wembley Stadium (a record for a solo artist on a single tour), TTPD continued to reign, clocking up eight weeks at the summit. “Taylor is a true musical icon and it’s hard to overstate her global presence this year, including in the UK, both from a live and a recorded perspective,” said Dr Jo Twist OBE, BPI CEO. “London hosted more dates of the Eras Tour than any other city worldwide this year, with the tour adding an estimated £300 million to the local economy. There’s clearly a special bond between Taylor and her British fans.” As Music Week went to press, TTPD was by far the most consumed album of the year with 716,239 sales to date. 2. FEMALE RECORD BREAKERS Female solo artists broke a chart record in 2024 with a lengthy No.1 singles run. Women topped the chart for (at least) 14 weeks in a row, breaking the all-time record for the chart in its 72-year history. As we went to press, the record-breaking run comprised Sabrina Carpenter’s Taste (nine consecutive weeks), Gigi Perez’s Sailor Song (one week) and Gracie Abrams’ That’s So True (four weeks). In 2023, solo women artists matched the previous record of 12 consecutive weeks at the summit, thanks to No.1s from Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, Kenya Grace and Taylor Swift. “Following on from the major charts success by women in 2023, it’s been incredible to see era-defining women from the UK, US and beyond go from strength to strength in both the albums and singles charts, and also to see a new generation of diverse, inspiring women artists growing in popularity,” said Twist. In a shake-up at the BRITs, the BPI expanded the shortlists for this year’s ceremony to improve representation in Artist Of The Year and International Artist Of The Year categories. “Much work is being done across the music industry to make the sector more inclusive and equitable,” said Twist. “This is not only about supporting women artists, but also the many thousands of women – the majority of the workforce in fact – who work across the industry more widely.” “We’re looking forward to the BRITs next year and celebrating all of these amazing artists,” added BPI chair YolanDa Brown OBE DL, who said it has been a “fantastic year for women”. 3. TRIPLE CROWN & SIMULTANEOUS HITS For Sabrina Carpenter, it wasn’t just about the length of time – 21 weeks – at No.1. The Polydor-signed US star had a triumvirate of hits that reached the summit – Espresso, Please Please Please and Taste. But that success has been building for a while in the UK. “We’ve been playing Sabrina for several years now,” said BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra head of music Chris Price. “She’s been into the Live Lounge twice, she performed on the main stage at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Luton this year. We’re really proud of that relationship and just thrilled to see her absolutely flying and owning the chart. It’s been the year of Sabrina, hasn’t it?” Carpenter’s success also typifies a chart trend for simultaneous Top 10 hits in 2024. Over a number of weeks, she had three songs in the Top 5 competing with each other and also managed to dominate the entire Top 3 for a fortnight. Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Gracie Abrams, Charli XCX, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Ariana Grande, Noah Kahan and Teddy Swims each managed to secure simultaneous Top 10 singles outside of the week of album release this year. “We’re having to adjust to multiple songs by one artist in the chart at the same time; sometimes we have multiple songs on the playlist,” said Price. “But that’s how people consume music now, so we have evolved to fit with that.” Label campaigns, too, are increasingly reacting to that streaming success on multiple fronts. “As marketers, we can rely on data to make decisions a little too much, but in these instances, we have to scroll, read, listen and, more importantly than ever, ask,” said Olivia Hobbs, founder and director of the Blackstar agency. “Using engagement tools to help capture the community around these moments is equally essential alongside a robust strategy to reward the fans for engaging where possible with quality experiences.” Of course, it also places growing demands on artists and teams. “In a content-heavy world, if simultaneous hits come as a surprise, it can add pressure to the artist and their teams to keep promotional material updated,” added Hobbs, who also noted the power of fan communities to drive excitement and creativity. 4. INCREASING RETURNS Music Week reported on the No.1 singles drought for UK talent in 2024. Up to week 48, the only British chart-toppers were Charli XCX’s Guess (with Billie Eilish) and Backbone by Chase & Status and Stormzy. UK-signed Irish artist Hozier also reached No.1. In the albums chart, though, returning UK artists put in a strong performance with the majority of chart-toppers making gains in week one compared to their previous entry. Based on Music Week analysis, UK returning artists at No.1 who saw a boost in week one sales this year include D-Block Europe, James Arthur, Idles, Rod Stewart, James, Beabadoobee, Dua Lipa, Blossoms, Coldplay, Charli XCX, The Cure and Michael Ball & Alfie Boe. In addition, Shed Seven had two No.1s with label Cooking Vinyl, both of which improved upon their previous result. “Labels, distributors and artists have woken up and are now all adopting proactive pre-order campaigns that are targeted across a band’s entire audience,” said Cooking Vinyl MD Rob Collins. “This allows for multiple formats, limited editions, signed copies, in-stores, out-stores and exclusive ticket access. If you know the audience and you have a proactive band on socials who are willing to put the graft in, then you can build a strategy over four to six months that drives a large pre-order.” Overall, 14 LPs by British acts saw an increase. Some of the week one results were dramatic, such as Coldplay’s Moon Music (+134%), Charli XCX’s Brat (+69%) and Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism (+35%). “Everything starts with the artist proposition and grasping all the opportunities that comes with it, looking at the confluence of product, audience and artist,” said Natasha Billing, SVP, commercial and data insight at Warner Music UK. “With returning artists, there is also a valuable audience engagement strategy that needs to be defined – it isn’t just the existing audiences that need to be reignited and energised but also the opportunity to build new ones on the channels and platforms where they spend most of their time,” she added. “The commercial team at Warner Music work closely with our label partners to unlock the full suite of activation and promotional opportunities across DSPs and channels.” Billing said opportunities to drive discovery and consumption for returning artists include Spotify Countdown and Discovery mode, Amazon Originals, Apple Music Zane Lowe interviews and YouTube afterparties, as well as leveraging initiatives from creators on Meta platforms and TikTok. 5. BRIT BREAKTHROUGHS The UK breakthrough has been a perennial issue, even though we actually have some notable achievements this year. The Last Dinner Party hit No.1 with debut album Prelude To Ecstasy (Island) and made No.67 in the year-to-date rankings up to the end of Q3. It has sales to date of 94,637. While a UK debut album breakthrough is a rarity now as new acts have to compete both with US stars and catalogue favourites, British talent did succeed on the singles front. Luton singer-songwriter Myles Smith’s Stargazing (RCA) was a bone-fide hit with consumption of 917,194 so far, which is set to earn it a Top 20 finish in the year-end rankings. There were also significant streaming successes for Cassö, Raye and D-Block Europe with Prada (Ministry Of Sound), which first charted in 2023 (916,353 units in 2024), and Artemas’ I Like The Way You Kiss Me (Parlophone) on 799,726 units. Both are chasing a Top 20 finish for the year. Meanwhile, Grammy-nominated Warner Records artist Jordan Adetunji went Top 10 with Kehlani (398,519 units). While BMG SVP A&R UK Jamie Nelson celebrated more success with Kylie Minogue in 2024, he acknowledged the wider industry issue with breaking acts. “We’ve all been challenged within the business when it comes to emerging new artists,” he told Music Week. “And emerging new artists delivering successes at a superstar level are becoming increasingly challenged. In many ways, it calls for some focus and some concern.” “It is tough, it takes longer [to break acts],” said Price. “There are structural reasons around the streaming ecosystem and the addressable market [for US artists on DSPs in North America]. I think that is a big part of the reason why we’re seeing the dominance of American artists in the UK chart.” “Creatively, British music is in really good shape, but if there is one respect in which the Americans are doing better, it’s in the producer-songwriter space,” he added. “Looking at the chart in any given week, often it’s a combination of Amy Allen, Dan Nigro, Julian Bunetta and Kid Harpoon. Kid Harpoon is British, obviously, but there is that brain drain of British talent that gravitates towards the US.” The BPI’s Dr Jo Twist said that with the right support from government alongside industry cooperation, “British music can continue to grow and remain a global headline act.” “There have been a host of British breakthroughs this year from new and diverse acts,” Twist told Music Week. “But in the hyper-competitive global music economy, label businesses are needed more than ever to help nurture, invest in and promote that talent.” “I travel all around the world and I’m still hearing our artists being played there,” added YolanDa Brown. “So I think it’s really strong – and long may it continue.”

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